Billionaire businessman Harold Hamm has scaled back production targets at his oil company for next year because of falling prices.
Continental Resources, which has been at the centre of the US shale gas boom, said it plans to increase output by 16% to 20% in 2015 rather than the 26% to 32% originally planned. It will also cut its rigs total from 50 to 34.
“This revised budget prudently aligns our capital expenditures to lower commodity prices, targeting cash flow neutrality by mid-year 2015,” said Hamm, who recently fought a high-profile divorce battle with his former wife Su Ann in which he was ordered to pay her a $1 billion (£641 million) settlement.
Oil prices hovered just above $60 a barrel today following comments by Saudi Arabia’s oil minister yesterday, who said Opec would not cut production at any price.
“Brent could drop below $60 per barrel over the next six months, and West Texas Intermediate could fall to $50, as global oil inventories build sharply from here,” analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said.